Tag: Tim Duncan

Exploring why the NBA regular season has lost its luster

The In-Season Tournament provides a boost, but a lull between the conclusion and the playoffs loom large

More than ever, the regular season in many of the world’s major sports leagues have decreased in terms of importance. From the players to the fans, the priority is to make it to playoff action, and let the chips fall where they may. The decaying value may not be any more prevalent than it is in the NBA, where it’s almost considered a crime if a player (let alone a star player) comes close to playing in all 82 regular season games. That, combined with a style of play that has made defense optional, and a product that is close to unwatchable becomes the result. It’s become so bad, commissioner Adam Silver knew he had to do something in an attempt to remedy the problem, and alas, the In-Season Tournament (won by the Los Angeles Lakers) is born. After assessing the results, it’s time to look into why this point was reached, the after effects of the tournament and where things go from here.

When it comes to the league’s devalued regular season, one of the main reasons people love to point the finger at is load management. This isn’t to say resting players wasn’t happening before this, but the San Antonio Spurs started a trend when they chose selected games to sit aging starts like Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in the early to mid-2010s. The goal was to make sure they were healthy for the playoff run, and the action resulted in the Spurs making back-to-back runs to the NBA Finals in 2013 and ’14 (winning it all in the latter year). Since then, many other teams have adapted the strategy for numerous reasons, even if it means shutting down players for trade and draft considerations. Nowadays, 65 or 70 games played for a star player is considered a miracle, and there’s no indication of that trend changing anytime soon. It’s never a good sign when the competitive balance of a league is in question, and the problem is particularly glaring in the NBA. Yes, MLB and the NHL have equally long seasons (in terms of months played), but the star players are likely to play more often than not. The NFL has less games to play, but you can count on them to be in action unless injuries keep them out. The opposite has become the norm in basketball.

Along with load management, the quality and style of play is mentioned as a reason why the league’s regular season isn’t as pleasant on the eyes and ears. At the risk of sounding like the old head, the days of tough defense seem to be long gone, and players get thrown out if there’s even a hint of a hard foul. The combination of rule changes and the want by many to see more offense equals point totals that are astronomic. Final scores of 130 to 120 are now the normal instead of the exception, and it’s surprising if a team, or both, don’t have 100 points after three quarters of action. In other words, the games in the regular season aren’t too much better than glorified scrimmages and shoot arounds, and the product has become close to cringeworthy. This isn’t to take away from the skill these players have on offense, but the defense is more about getting the points back on the other end than taking the challenge and actually stopping somebody.

It’s one thing to point out problems, but what are the solutions? We knew there were (and still are) issues with tanking, and the NBA decided to introduce the Play-In Tournament in response. Like anything else in life, the playoff tease has its detractors, but it has worked to generate more excitement and more importantly, lessen the amount of giving up on the season. Viewership in the regular season is the next issue, which is a problem simply because football (both the NFL and college) is clearly the elephant that blocks the sight for everything else. At the earliest, the league’s Christmas showcase, when there are five nationally televised games in a row, is when any bit of interest in the season begins. By bringing the IST into existence, they can at least take advantage of the nights football isn’t on as much, and give incentive for the players to hold off (for a little bit) on load management. From all indications, the tournament checked all of the boxes for success, and if the way some of the courts looked is the most fans can complain about, it’s safe to say good reviews are aplenty.

So what happens next? There are reports the NBA is looking at ways to improve upon the first IST. Maybe the league can start the tournament a little later, with the final potentially taking place on Christmas Day. The first month of the season is used by many players to start getting into playing shape, and for that reason, it’s understood why the NBA wanted to have the dates they chose to hold the invitational. Maybe they could hold another one before the All-Star Break, with the trade deadline looming. Some people say the IST is a gimmick , but in the soccer world, the tournaments during the season have been a rousing success. It’s good to see the NBA is willing to try something new. They saw a problem, and they’re trying to solve it. Best believe, the other leagues in North America are watching, and if the success continues for basketball, don’t be surprised if there are copycats that follow.

The NBA title asterisk argument, and why it doesn’t make any sense

Here we are, in the middle of the 2021 NBA Finals, coming close to crowning a new champion. As it stands right now, the Milwaukee Bucks have a 3-2 series lead over the Phoenix Suns, with Game 6 scheduled for Tuesday night in Milwaukee. Both of these teams have been through a lot in their journey to the championship series, and whoever wins deserve the time to be celebrated. It’s been said nobody can ever take a title away from a team who wins it. Unfortunately, there are many who will try to take it away, or at the very least, attempt to lessen the legitimacy of the triumph. Regardless of who wins, either the Bucks or Suns will have to hear how (among other things) teams they faced along the way were not at full strength, which is basically saying their paths were made significantly easier. The 72-game regular season is also something that will be thrown in to dump dirt on the potential victory. All of this equals the mastery of the halfway acknowledgement, where you have people admitting the championship run happened, but with an asterisk. Words like phony and cheap are constantly thrown around to explain a team’s quest when it’s perceived they did not exactly “earn” it. Come with me as we look at other title runs that commonly have an asterisk by it, and then talk about why these cases against the winners equate to glorified excuse making.

1999 San Antonio Spurs – Going into this particular season, there was serious doubt a season would even take place. The NBA and the Players Association were in the middle of a lockout, and a deal wasn’t reached until January of that year. As a result, the season was shortened to 50 games, and the All-Star Game was cancelled. With the campaign compacted, it was the Spurs, lead by future hall-of-famers Tim Duncan and David Robinson, who would emerge as the team to unseat the Chicago Bulls as the new heirs to the throne. Of course, the Bulls looked totally different from previous years, as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman all left the team, and the Los Angeles Lakers, with young superstars Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, weren’t quite ready to ascend to the throne just yet. To top it off, the Spurs defeated an eighth-seeded New York Knicks team to win the franchise’s first trophy. Bottom line is whoever won the title in this campaign was going to get grief simply because it wasn’t the normal 82-game format. It just happened to be the Spurs. Being a teenager who was growing up in San Antonio at that time, I can say first hand the fans down there didn’t care about the way victory was claimed by their team.

2012 Miami Heat – Like the ’99 season, the 2011-12 was also shortened by a work stoppage. The difference is the powers that be were able to salvage a 66-game season instead of 50, with the games starting Christmas Day. The Heat, with the “Big 3” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, were coming off of a crushing loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals. With everything on the line, they were able to come through and get the elusive title James sought after in coming down to Florida from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2010. Having said that, the championship didn’t come without its doubts. Besides the season being 66 games, people wonder to this day whether or not the Heat even get to the Finals if the Bulls, who had the best record in the Eastern Conference that year, didn’t lose point guard Derrick Rose to a injured knee in the first round of the playoffs. In the conference finals, Miami needed all seven teams to get by a Boston Celtics team that had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen all on the downsides of their respective careers. With the team the Heat had, it was not a huge surprise seeing them win, but for the haters out there, these are the excuses they put in front to justify the asterisk.

2015 Golden State Warriors – Unlike the first two case studies, the Warriors actually played a full 82-game season. They also had the league’s best record at 67-15 and the Most Valuable Player in guard Stephen Curry. On the surface, this is the team that should have won it all with all things considered, but the argument comes against them because of their opponent in the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers. It was the first year in James’ return to Cleveland after being in Miami for the last four seasons, and he had another version of the Big 3 in the form of himself, guard Kyrie Irving and forward Kevin Love. On the way through the East, Love suffered an injured shoulder and was lost for the rest of the season, and Irving hurt his knee in Game 1 of the Finals. Now here come the questions. What would the result have been if Cleveland was healthy (One can ask the same question in reverse when it comes to the Cavs’ title win the year after)? It’s always tough because injuries are part of sports, and we never know when, where or who they can happen to. It’s probably fair to say it’s often not the best team who rises to the top, but the healthiest. For LeBron (and the few remaining Cavs) fans everywhere, health will always be a question, but isn’t that the case for many teams in the history of sports?

2019 Toronto Raptors – In a time where we are always looking a story to captivate us, this version of the Raptors was one a person can get behind with ease. Forward Kawhi Leonard was traded to Toronto from the Spurs before the year started, and with that move, the whole country of Canada was being carried on Leonard’s back. The end saw the Raptors winning the title, defeating the Warriors, who were trying to become the first team since the Lakers in the early 2000s to win three straight league championships, 4-2. With this run, there are two glaring points some fans and media will point out to take away from Toronto’s accomplishment. One, James left the Eastern Conference to sign with the Lakers, and teams that had him playing for them had made the Finals eight straight times. Two, the Warriors saw Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson go down to catastrophic injuries. Yes, Golden State was favored to win it all going into the season, but to say they would have won just off of projections ignore the original reason why games are played. It just goes to show why there is an element of luck, good or bad, that goes with the skill, and for the people in the city of Toronto, I struggle to see any evidence of care about how the Raptors brought a title back to not just that metropolitan area, but the country as a whole.

2020 Lakers – I probably don’t have to explain why this case is questioned, but for research purposes, here it goes. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season, and sports in general, stopped as we know it, and there were questions about the season being canceled altogether. From March 11 to July 30, the season was in limbo, but it did return to resume playing in Orlando, where teams met to play in the NBA bubble. Needless to say, the circumstances the players were facing were unlike any they have faced before. So with that being said, mental and emotional toughness was going to be key for the team that could rise to the top. It ended up being the Lakers, but people would be quick to point out how the “break” really helped James and newly-acquired forward Anthony Davis by helping their bodies recover from the grind of the regular season. Davis has a detailed injury history, and James, as great as he is, was showing signs of the wear and tear of a long career that has seen countless runs to the Finals in previous years. In other words, critics say L.A. would not have won the title if it wasn’t for the pause in action.

So there are five cases detailing why some fans and media want to put an asterisk on these title runs, but to be honest, the people who have these opinions sound dumb and jealous. If their favorite team, or in the case of the media, their pick to win, came through for them, they are not complaining or talking about the perceived pitfalls they want to throw on the winners. They would put a more positive spin on it, saying how their team was tenacious and showed the heart and grit necessary to complete such a task. Also, it’s quickly forgotten all of the other squads had the same circumstances to deal with. It’s not like there was a different set of rules put together for the team that hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy. To sum it up, the asterisk argument holds no water with these scenarios, and it won’t when the Bucks or Suns get their moment to shine sometime this week. That does not mean people won’t try to fill the broken cup with BS. We’re just left to decide if we want to take the cup, and that decision should be easy if things are looked at by principle instead of who is involved.